Brno, Czech Republic: Dozens attend funeral for Romani murder victim, investigation of the case is still underway
Dozens of people in Brno attended the funeral of Nicolas today, the young Romani man who died the Saturday before last after being stabbed by a 37-year-old man (identified by media as a Ukrainian) during a scuffle just before the start of the Ignis Brnensis fireworks festival at the Brno Reservoir. The ceremony lasted about a half an hour and the deceased was then buried at the Central Cemetery.
While details about the perpetrator have yet to be confirmed, his identification by the media as a citizen of Ukraine sparked anti-Ukrainian reactions among some Roma and divided the community. This past Saturday about 1000 Romani people assembled in Brno in front of the Janáček Theater to commemorate the deceased.
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In Prague on that same day in the afternoon a “happening” for the same purpose was held and attended by about 40 people, including representatives of both the Romani and Ukrainian communities. Police spokesperson Pavel Šváb told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today that the crime is still in the process of being investigated.
Šváb said eyewitness interrogations are underway and officers are ascertaining the full circumstances of the incident. Previously, police issued repeated calls for eyewitnesses to the conflict and for those who know what happened on the tram on which both the perpetrator and the victim were passengers to contact them.
Police arrested the suspect at the scene and he was remanded into custody by the court one week ago. Romani figures and organizations have repeatedly reminded the public that it is not possible to condemn an entire minority for the actions of one person; Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková previously told ČTK that she has faith in the investigation underway by police.
PHOTO GALLERY by Petr Banda
